CHAPTER PAGE✦

FOREWORD v

I. WHERE TO FIND MOUNTAIN GOOSE. HOW TO PICK AND USE ITS FEATHERS 1

II. THE HALF-CAVE SHELTER 7

III. HOW TO MAKE THE FALLEN-TREE SHELTER AND THE SCOUT-MASTER 11

IV. HOW TO MAKE THE ADIRONDACK, THE WICK-UP, THE BARK TEEPEE, THE PIONEER, AND THE SCOUT 15

V. HOW TO MAKE BEAVER-MAT HUTS, OR FAGOT SHACKS, WITHOUT INJURY TO THE TREES 18

VI. INDIAN SHACKS AND SHELTERS 22

VII. BIRCH BARK OR TAR PAPER SHACK 27

VIII. INDIAN COMMUNAL HOUSES 31

IX. BARK AND TAR PAPER 36

X. A SAWED-LUMBER SHANTY 39

XI. A SOD HOUSE FOR THE LAWN 47

XII. HOW TO BUILD ELEVATED SHACKS, SHANTIES, AND SHELTERS 52

XIII. THE BOG KEN 54

XIV. OVER-WATER CAMPS 62

XV. SIGNAL-TOWER, GAME LOOKOUT, AND RUSTIC OBSERVATORY 65

XVI. TREE-TOP HOUSES 72

XVII. CACHES 77

XVIII. HOW TO USE AN AXE 83

XIX. HOW TO SPLIT LOGS, MAKE SHAKES, SPLITS, OR CLAPBOARDS. HOW TO CHOP A LOG IN HALF. HOW TO FLATTEN A LOG. ALSO SOME DON'TS 87

XX. AXEMEN'S CAMPS 92

XXI. RAILROAD-TIE SHACKS, BARREL SHACKS, AND CHIMEHUEVIS 96

XXII. THE BARABARA 100

XXIII. THE NAVAJO HOGAN, HORNADAY DUGOUT, AND SOD HOUSE 104

XXIV. HOW TO BUILD AN AMERICAN BOY'S HOGAN 107

XXV. HOW TO CUT AND NOTCH LOGS 115

XXVI. NOTCHED LOG LADDERS 119

XXVII. A POLE HOUSE. HOW TO USE A CROSS-CUT SAW AND A FROE 122

XXVIII. LOG-ROLLING AND OTHER BUILDING STUNTS 126

XXIX. THE ADIRONDACK OPEN LOG CAMP AND A ONE-ROOM CABIN 129

XXX. THE NORTHLAND TILT AND INDIAN LOG TENT 132

XXXI. HOW TO BUILD THE RED JACKET, THE NEW BRUNSWICK, AND THE CHRISTOPHER GIST 135

XXXII. CABIN DOORS AND DOOR-LATCHES, THUMB-LATCHES AND FOOT LATCHES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM 139

XXXIII. SECRET LOCKS 145

XXXIV. HOW TO MAKE THE BOW-ARROW CABIN DOOR AND LATCH AND THE DEMING TWIN BOLTS, HALL, AND BILLY 151

XXXV. THE AURES LOCK LATCH 155

XXXVI. THE AMERICAN LOG CABIN 161

XXXVII. A HUNTER'S OR FISHERMAN'S CABIN 169

XXXVIII. HOW TO MAKE A WYOMING OLEBO, A HOKO RIVER OLEBO, A SHAKE CABIN, A CANADIAN MOSSBACK, AND A TWO-PEN OR SOUTHERN SADDLE-BAG HOUSE 171

XXXIX. NATIVE NAMES FOR THE PARTS OF A KANUCK LOG CABIN, AND HOW TO BUILD ONE 177

XL. HOW TO MAKE A POLE HOUSE AND HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE BUT THOROUGHLY AMERICAN TOTEM LOG HOUSE 183

XLI. HOW TO BUILD A SUSITNA LOG CABIN AND HOW TO CUT TREES FOR THE END PLATES 191

XLII. HOW TO MAKE A FIREPLACE AND CHIMNEY FOR A SIMPLE LOG CABIN 195

XLIII. HEARTHSTONES AND FIREPLACES 200

XLIV. MORE HEARTHS AND FIREPLACES 203

XLV. FIREPLACES AND THE ART OF TENDING THE FIRE 206

XLVI. THE BUILDING OF THE LOG HOUSE 211

XLVII. HOW TO LAY A TAR PAPER, BIRCH BARK, OR PATENT ROOFING 218

XLVIII. HOW TO MAKE A CONCEALED LOG CABIN INSIDE OF A MODERN HOUSE 230

XLIX. HOW TO BUILD APPROPRIATE GATEWAYS FOR GROUNDS ENCLOSING LOG HOUSES, GAME PRESERVES, RANCHES, BIG COUNTRY ESTATES, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST BOY SCOUTS' CAMP GROUNDS 237

Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties

SHELTERS, SHACKS, AND SHANTIES

I

WHERE TO FIND MOUNTAIN GOOSE. HOW TO PICK AND USE ITS FEATHERS

IT may be necessary for me to remind the boys that they must use the material at hand in building their shacks, shelters, sheds, and shanties, and that they are very fortunate if their camp is located in a country where the mountain goose is to be found.

The Mountain Goose

From Labrador down to the northwestern borders of New England and New York and from thence to southwestern Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, the woodsman and camper may make their beds from the feathers of the "mountain goose." The mountain goose is also found inhabiting the frozen soil of Alaska and following the Pacific and the Rocky Mountains the Abies make their dwelling-place as far south as Guatemala. Consequently, the Abies, or mountain goose, should be a familiar friend of all the scouts who live in the mountainous country, north, south, east, and west.

Sapin--Cho-kho-tung

I forgot to say that the mountain goose (Figs. 1 and 2) is not a bird but a tree. It is humorously called a goose by the woodsmen because they all make their beds of its "feathers." It is the sapin of the French-Canadians, the cho-kho-tung of the New York Indians, the balsam of the tenderfoot, the Christmas-tree of the little folk, and that particular Coniferae known by the dry-as-dust botanist as Abies. There is nothing in nature which has a wilder, more sylvan and charming perfume than the balsam, and the scout who has not slept in the woods on a balsam bed has a pleasure in store for him.

Balsam

The leaves of the balsam are blunt or rounded at the ends and some of them are even dented or notched in place of being sharp-pointed. Each spine or leaf is a scant one inch in length and very flat; the upper part is grooved and of a dark bluish-green color. The under-side is much lighter, often almost silvery white. The balsam blossoms in April or May, and the fruit or cones stand upright on the branches. These vary from two to four inches in length. The balsam-trees are seldom large, not many of them being over sixty feet high with trunks from one to less than three feet through. The bark on the trunks is gray in color and marked with horizontal rows of blisters. Each of these contains a small, sticky sap like glycerine. Fig. 1 shows the cone and leaves of one of the Southern balsams known as the she-balsam, and Fig. 2 shows the celebrated balsam-fir tree of the north country, cone and branch.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7.

Balsam Beds

The balsam bed is made of the small twigs of balsam-trees. In gathering these, collect twigs of different lengths, from eighteen inches long (to be used as the foundation of the bed) to ten or twelve inches long (for the top layer). If you want to rest well, do not economize on the amount you gather; many a time I have had my bones ache as a result of being too tired to make my bed properly and attempting to sleep on a thin layer of boughs.

If you attempt to chop off the boughs of balsam they will resent your effort by springing back and slapping you in the face. You can cut them with your knife, but it is slow work and will blister your hands. Take twig by twig with the thumb and fingers (the thumb on top, pointing toward the tip of the bough, and the two forefingers underneath); press down with the thumb, and with a twist of the wrist you can snap the twigs like pipe-stems. Fig. 3 shows two views of the hands in a proper position to snap off twigs easily and clean. The one at the left shows the hand as it would appear looking down upon it; the one at the right shows the view as you look at it from the side.

Packing Boughs

After collecting a handful of boughs, string them on a stick which you have previously prepared (Fig. 4). This stick should be of strong, green hardwood, four or five feet long with a fork about six inches long left on it at the butt end to keep the boughs from sliding off, and sharpened at the upper end so that it can be easily poked through a handful of boughs. String the boughs on this stick as you would string fish, but do it one handful at a time, allowing the butts to point in different directions. It is astonishing to see the amount of boughs you can carry when strung on a stick in this manner and thrown over your shoulder as in Fig. 5. If you have a lash rope, place the boughs on a loop of the rope, as in Fig. 6, then bring the two ends of the rope up through the loop and sling the bundle on your back.

Clean Your Hands

When you have finished gathering the material for your bed your hands will be covered with a sticky sap, and, although they will be a sorry sight, a little lard or baking grease will soften the pitchy substance so that it may be washed off with soap and water.

How to Make Beds

To make your bed, spread a layer of the larger boughs on the ground; commence at the head and shingle them down to the foot so that the tips point toward the head of the bed, overlapping the butts (Fig. 7). Continue this until your mattress is thick enough to make a soft couch upon which you can sleep as comfortably as you do at home. Cover the couch with one blanket and use the bag containing your coat, extra clothes, and sweater for a pillow. Then if you do not sleep well, you must blame the cook.

Other Bedding

If you should happen to be camping in a country destitute of balsam, hemlock, or pine, you can make a good spring mattress by collecting small green branches of any sort of tree which is springy and elastic. Build the mattress as already described. On top of this put a thick layer of hay, straw, or dry leaves or even green material, provided you have a rubber blanket or poncho to cover the latter. In Kentucky I have made a mattress of this description and covered the branches with a thick layer of the purple blossoms of ironweed; over this I spread a rubber army blanket to keep out the moisture from the green stuff and on top of this made my bed with my other blankets. It was as comfortable a couch as I have ever slept on; in fact, it was literally a bed of flowers.